We all desire to be seen and acknowledged for our merits and achievements in some way, but there are some who struggle when it comes to being recognised, mainly because they primarily live in the shadows, whether as a result of their own decisions or those of the other people in their lives. There exists entire generations of people whose stories have never been told simply because they haven’t been given the voice to tell them, with this correlating with marginalised communities made invisible by the belief that they don’t have lives worth exploring. This is the foundation of Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War, a charming and tender comedy in which Ian Sharp crafts a film that centres on the titular character, a mild-mannered woman on the other side of middle age who has spent her entire adult life being of service to her husband and son, neither of whom seem to appreciate her efforts or the fact that she has sacrificed many of her own dreams to be at their beck and call. After her husband dies, Mrs Caldicot is forced to take up residence in a retirement home as a result of her scheming son and his materialistic wife manipulating her into signing over their family home. While in the care home, she gradually starts to develop a sense of confidence, and eventually leads her fellow residents on something of a mutiny as they rebel against the dull and dour conditions of a home that is less about caring for the elderly and more about extracting every last resource out of them in exchange for next to nothing. A lovely little film that has resided in obscurity since its release, despite being a wonderfully charming comedy about ageing and the experiences of finding your voice in the places we may not expect, Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War is wickedly entertaining and often quite touching, indicating some fantastic merits sitting just beneath the eccentric surface.

There exists a very specific sub-genre of comedy in which the plots revolve around older characters rebelling against some institution or theoretical concept, almost as a means to proclaim that life does not necessarily have to come to a grinding halt once someone reaches a particular age. In the case of Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War, its intentions are very clear. It isn’t quite as irreverent as films like Waking Ned or Calendar Girls (two very popular examples of this particular style of storytelling), but it traverses very similar narrative territory. Here we are introduced to a woman who is plagued by a kind of pleasant boredom that tends to afflict those who find themselves having everything they desire in terms of material possessions, but lacking in soulful, meaningful experiences, and yearning for a life filled with more excitement and joy, which is unfortunately not possible for those who are under the influence of others, such as a spouse or family member that dictates their life as if it was a collective. This is doubly sad for those who are older and find themselves reflecting on the past and wondering where it went off the rails. These ideas persist throughout Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War, which is a film that is as much about seizing the moment and realising that it is never too late to reinvent yourself and overcome various seemingly impossible challenges, but also a tale of reflection and how we may attempt to atone for the choice to surrender to the status quo, rather than forging one’s own path. It’s not particularly revolutionary filmmaking, but it’s certainly consistently charming enough to highlight these themes, with the entire production being a well-crafted and delicately-written examination of the trials and tribulations of a woman who realises that her husband’s passing allows her to be liberated from her bland existence and pursue a more free-spirited, open life.

As far as performances go, we can always depend on a film like Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War to provide a good set of roles for some veteran actors – there’s something very charming about how these films are designed to be showcases for older performers, and it is common to find some of the cherished icons of yesteryear being given another chance to lead such a film. Pauline Collins is not an actor we often find emerging in these discussions – she is well-loved for both her stage and film portrayal of the titular character in Shirley Valentine (her signature role), and she’s made a career playing these quirky, lovable older women with a wicked sense of humour and an abundance of heart. To be perfectly frank, Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War is very much a reprisal of many of the same themes as Shirley Valentine, particularly in how Collins is essentially playing a woman advancing in age who decides to take the opportunity to reinvent herself on her own terms, regardless of being advised against it by those who refuse to see her vision. Collins is absolutely superb – this is a performance that feels very much within her wheelhouse, since while it is a simple character that any actor of a certain age could play reasonably well, she finds the complexities that don’t exist in the script or through the direction, but instead come through in her personal definition of the character, which is poignant and filled with so much incredible charm. The ensemble cast may pale in comparison, but they do provide the necessary support, particularly Peter Capaldi (in one of his most villainous turns to date), and a large group of older actors who steal several scenes and make it so wonderfully engaging, working closely with Collins to create these lovable, compelling characters that only give this film a more nuanced and sincere tone.

It may not be particularly evident based on a cursory glance, but Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War does have quite a strong conceptual foundation on which most of its ideas are formed, and we find that there are quite a few elements that are designed to keep us wholeheartedly engaged without complicating the overall experience more than required. The execution is slightly more subdued, and it isn’t a particularly cinematic work – Sharp is a journeyman director who has primarily worked in television, so it wasn’t a case of his direction being the main attraction, and more about the concept and the performances. The tone the film takes is somewhere between irreverent and sentimental, which is quite a peculiar combination when we peer beneath the surface, but actually begins to make sense when we look at the film and its thematic content, which is essentially divided into two very broad groupings. It’s a very sentimental film, but one with a lot of heart – it does tend to come across as slightly heavy-handed at times, and the structure of the plot (in which the film oscillates between vignettes of the titular character and her equally rebellious friends subverting authority, and recollections of her past) does mean that it does move quite rapidly between tones, which can be jarring if we aren’t expecting it. It doesn’t trivialise some of its more serious ideas, but it also doesn’t go as deep into these issues as we may expect, primarily because it is trying to be a more upbeat, pleasant comedy more than a harsh, callous exploration of a woman learning to overcome her past regrets. Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War doesn’t offer a particularly deep investigation of these ideas, and it even tends to glaze over them, such as referring to outright emotional and psychological abuse as merely “bullying”, or using the atrocious treatment of the elderly as fodder for humour – it’s not mean-spirited, but it does feel slightly tonally inconsistent, but which is mercifully resolved by the lovable characters and the well-meaning spirit of the film.

Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War is a very simple film, and occupies a place amongst those small, straightforward British comedies that are not particularly serious, but have a tenderness and charm that keep us wholeheartedly engaged and thoroughly enamoured. It may not be entirely complex, and it does tend to be quite simplistic in its approach, but there’s very little doubt that Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War is a wildly entertaining work that features a lovely performance from Collins, who commits entirely to the premise and finds the humanity beneath quite a difficult character to perfect, showing that she is truly one of our most lovable stars, and someone more than willing to take on certain challenges when required. It’s a wonderfully compelling film that may seem straightforward from a distance (and has sadly become almost entirely lost as a result of being made at a time when these smaller character-based comedies were at their peak), but has certain elements that do hint at something more profound – the direction is perhaps pedestrian (and a more assured hand could have made it a lot more cinematic, especially making it flow with more consistency and nuance when it comes to reconciling the characters with the various setpieces scattered throughout the film), but as an engaging little comedy about ageing and the challenges that come when one looks back on their life, its certainly well worth our time, earning our respect while also just being a thorough delight in terms of all of the themes that it examines in exceptional detail, being as lovely as it is heartfelt.